Blogging the Bracket: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook

Selection Sunday Morning Bracketology: West Virginia Seizes Final No. 1 Seed

Editor's note: This bracket is cross-posted at SB Nation.

After an eventful Saturday, there are several new protected seeds in my second-to-last projection of the season. Things look to be coming into focus with only four games left in Championship Week.

Click here to see Sunday morning's full bracket.

Here are links to my seed list and tracking spreadsheet.

Kansas looks to have sewn up the top overall seed, as they grabbed their third victory of the season over Kansas State to claim the Big 12 Tournament crown. Kentucky and Syracuse remain on the top line, and West Virginia staked a claim by winning the Big East Saturday night. Currently, I have the Mountaineers as the final No. 1 instead of Duke.

While the Mountaineers and Blue Devils have similar records against the Top 50, WVU's wins are simply better. WVU owns an 8-5 record against these teams, with victories against No. 7 (twice) Georgetown, No. 9 Texas A&M, No.13 Villanova and No. 15 Pitt. Duke, meanwhile is 7-4, with their best victories coming against No. 22 Maryland and No. 32 Georgia Tech, who they split with. They also lost to the seventh-rated Hoyas. The Blue Devils could take the top spot back with a win over the Yellow Jackets in today's ACC final, but I doubt it.

Below the top line, Tennessee and Vanderbilt may have played themselves out of protected seed range after their losses in the SEC semifinals. Purdue is also in danger after they were demolished by Minnesota in the Big Ten semis. I still have both the Volunteers and Boilermakers on the four line, so they're as protected as two Southern/Midwestern teams forced to play out West can be. Vanderbilt drops to a five, but they're in a pod with Wisconsin in Spokane.

At the other end of the field, Houston stole a bid by beating UTEP for the second time this season, meaning the Miners are squarely on the bubble. Washington also played bid thief by topping Cal in the Pac-10 final. Finally, in the WAC final, New Mexico State beat Utah State for the second time, meaning the Blue Aggies likely took another at-large.

That means teams like Virginia Tech and Florida could be out, especially if Mississippi State beats Kentucky in the SEC championship on Sunday. Illinois looked to be in good shape, but they couldn't close the deal at the end of regulation and the first overtime, before they fell to Ohio State. Then, Minnesota made Purdue look like a bunch of middle schoolers. Not quite the contrast the Illini needed. 

It will indeed be a tense day.

Here's how things stand on Selection Sunday at around noon ET.

The Rundown

Top Four Seeds: KansasKentuckySyracuseWest Virginia
Last Five In: CaliforniaMinnesota, Utah State, UTEP, Virginia Tech
First Four Out: FloridaIllinois, Mississippi State, William & Mary

Conference Breakdown

Big East: 8
Syracuse (1), West Virginia (1), Villanova (2), Georgetown (3), Pittsburgh (4), Marquette (7), Notre Dame (8), Louisville (10)

ACC: 7 
Duke (2), Maryland (5), Clemson (7), Florida State (8),Wake Forest (9), Georgia Tech (9), Virginia Tech (11)

Big 12: 7 
Kansas (1), Kansas State (2), Baylor (3), Texas A&M (6), Texas (7), Oklahoma State (8), Missouri (9)

Big Ten: 5 
Ohio State (2), Wisconsin (4), Purdue (4), Michigan State (5), Minnesota (11)

MWC: 4 
New Mexico (3), BYU (5), UNLV (9), San Diego State (10)

A-10: 3
Temple (3), Richmond (6), Xavier (7)

SEC: 3
Kentucky (1), Tennessee (4), Vanderbilt (5)

C-USA: 2
UTEP (12), Houston (14)

Pac-10: 2
Washington (11), California (11)

WCC: 2
Gonzaga (6), St. Mary's (10)

WAC: 2
Utah State (12), New Mexico State (13)

One Bid Leagues (20): America East (Vermont), Atlantic Sun (ETSU), Big Sky (Montana), Big South (Winthrop), Big West (UC Santa Barbara), Colonial (Old Dominion), Horizon (Butler), Ivy (Cornell), Metro Atlantic (Siena), Mid-American (Ohio), Mid-Eastern (Morgan State), Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa), Northeast (Robert Morris), Ohio Valley (Murray State), Patriot (Lehigh), Southern (Wofford), Southland (Sam Houston State), Southwestern (Arkansas-Pine Bluff), Summit (Oakland), Sun Belt (North Texas)

For a more detailed breakdown of the teams fighting for the final few spots in the tournament, visit Bubble Watch.

0 recs  |  Comment 2 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Why is VT even close to the bracket at this point?

Their non-conference schedule is an embarrassment (worse even than Penn State’s last year, which was godawful and the sole reason they were excluded). And that 10-6 record in the ACC came against the weakest possible conference schedule: they played only one game against each of the six tournament locks, and two against each of the five worst teams in the league. A deep look at the resume reveals absolutely no redeeming qualities. I’d take three of the first four out ahead of them (Mississippi State is close but I’d go with VT).

by SpartanDan on Mar 14, 2010 2:12 PM EDT reply actions  

WVU also beat Ohio State

Let’s not forget that quality win.

by GWashington on Mar 14, 2010 4:02 PM EDT reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to the SB Nation blog projecting the NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Tournament and talking about college hoops in general.
Start posting on Blogging the Bracket »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

BracketTwitter

Contacting Blogging the Bracket

It's the 21st century, so you have a lot of options if you have a question or comment.

E-mails are always appreciated.  You can reach me at bracketdobber at gmail dot com.

For year-round site updates and hoops tweets, you can follow @BracketDobber on Twitter.  You can also follow @dobbersports for my non-hoops ramblings.

 

 

CBB News from CBSSports.com

SBNation.com Recent Stories

INDIANAPOLIS - APRIL 02:  A detail picture of the basketballs as the Duke Blue Devils during practice prior to the 2010 Final Four of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 2, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) +10 updates

NCAA Announces Plan For 'First Four,' Featuring Field Of 68 Play-In Games

Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds, top, is fouled by Drexel guard Jamie Harris (12) in the first half of a men's NCAA  college basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009, in Villanova, Pa. (AP Photo/Michael Perez)

Two Drexel Basketball Players Arrested, Accused Of Armed Robbery

+1 updates

UNLV's Tre'Von Willis Arrested On Multiple Charges

More from SBNation.com >


Bracketologist in Residence

Chris_d_profile_small Chris Dobbertean